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Louis has known his soulmate since he was a child.
They hadn’t met yet, but Louis knew him by heart.
He could sense his smile when something unexpectedly made him laugh. Running through the garden, he could feel his touch in the wind, the way it passed over his skin, moved through his hair.
Their soulmate bond pulsed through his heart when he scored his first goal, the wild beating of his heart a reminder of his soulmate’s joy. He couldn’t hear his soulmate’s voice, but there were times it was as if he was speaking to him.
He was the ease in his chest after taking a deep breath. He was the tears that spilled in sadness and anger, as well as the relief that came after. He was the tether that kept Louis grounded when his head spun with insecurity and worry. He was the warmth Louis felt when he was happy.
He was his very closest friend, his confidante, his beloved.
They had never met, but he didn’t think there was anyone in the world he missed more.
He wondered what his soulmate looked like, what he liked to do for fun. Would he like football and music, the way Louis did? Was he bookish and serious? Did he have many friends? Was his family big and loud?
Louis liked imagining what it might feel like to hold his hand, to actually see his smile. As he got older, his nights were filled with fantasies about his soulmate, about how it would be when they met and fell in love. He’d lay awake at night with his eyes half-open, wishing to see his soulmate beside him so that his feverish dreams would finally become real.
With bated breath, he waited for his eighteenth birthday, when he knew the universe would have their paths cross.
The 24th of December finally arrived. The night before, he had fallen asleep after restlessly tossing and turning in his bed. He wondered how they would meet- would it be during a last minute rush to buy Christmas presents? Would they brush shoulders on their way out of the store? Would they go to grab the same item off the shelf? Louis had no doubt that his soulmate would recognise, because he felt like he knew him by heart. He felt him in his veins, in every step he took.
Before pulling on his jumper, he stared at the bare and unmarked skin above his heart where his soul mark would bloom. He wondered if his skin would burn when fate had their paths cross, if his soul mark would appear right then and there. He wondered what it would be.
His mother knocked on the door and he called for her to come in, pulling down the rest of his jumper.
“Happy birthday, Boo,” she greeted, a small box in her hands.
“Mum, you didn’t-”
“Oh shush, just open it. It’s your birthday- your eighteenth birthday- so it’s extra special,” she explained. They sat on the edge of his bed as he ripped open the wrapping paper.
He opened the nondescript box to find a compass, its silver edge gleaming in the sunlight.
“Finding your mate, becoming an adult-- there’s so many new journeys you’re about to start. And I want you to remember what should always guide you,” his mum said quietly, as she reached for his hand.
He looked at her, not quite sure if he understood her metaphor.
“Love,” she said, her eyes growing misty.
Louis’ eyes began to burn as he tried to find the right words to thank his mother for her gift.
“No need to say anything, Boo, I know it’s a tad soppy, but-”
“I love it, mum. It’s perfect,” Louis smiled as he flung his arms around his mother.
“I really do need you to run to the store soon,” she replied. “I didn’t plan this, honest. I’m in the middle of making pudding for tonight, and I need a bit more heavy cream.”
Louis’ heart started to race as he realised that this could be it. He and his soulmate would meet in the dairy aisle of the Asda. He stood up and nodded.
“No problem. Anything else?” he asked, slipping his feet into his shoes.
“Maybe some brandy? For the mince pie, of course,” she said with a grin.
“Sure, Mum,” Louis laughed. He grabbed his wallet and made his way down the steps. He felt lighter than air as he began the drive to the store. The sky was a bright blue, and the air was crisp against his skin. The radio seemed to play only good songs the whole drive over. It felt like he was swimming and the tide was helping him along, pulling him to where he needed to be.
He slowed down to a crawl as he drove through the car park. It was surprisingly crowded, and Louis guessed that the other shoppers were people like him- running out last minute to buy a few needed ingredients. His eyes became hypervigilant as he glanced from person to person, gauging if he felt any sort of pull. Finally, he found a parking spot a long walk from the store’s entrance. As he put his indicator on, a small green sedan swung in front of him and swerved into the spot.
“What the-” Louis shouted, honking on his horn.
At that moment, an elderly lady backed out of a spot a few cars away from his intended spot. He immediately took her place, and with a huff, clambered out of his mum’s minivan. Stalking towards the other car, he began to plan his words. He was going to tell him off for driving unsafely, for stealing someone’s spot on Christmas Eve of all days, for not being cognizant of his surroundings-
He was gathering up the courage to confront this terrible driver, when the driver emerged from the car. He was tall and gangly with a wide smile and dimples, his curly hair blowing in the cold wind. His smile quickly faded as he clutched at his chest.
Louis gasped as he felt the skin on his chest begin to burn, and he knew without looking that this boy was his soulmate.
“You,” Louis muttered, his teeth gritted as his soul mark continued to bloom.
“Are you my-” the boy began, breathing in sharply as he winced in pain, “my soulmate?”
Louis let out a weak laugh as he stared at the boy, who was still clutching at the skin right below his collarbones. Despite the pain he was in and the initial anger that had filled him, something about being just steps away from him made everything feel clearer, calmer. Everything was more vibrant, and everything was still. Everything felt alive.
On his next breath, he realised that his mark was no longer hurting. He glanced at the boy to see if he was still in pain, and he was unsurprised to notice that he wanted nothing more than for his mate to be happy and comfortable. They stepped forward at the same time.
Now, he was close enough to touch. All he had to was reach out, and his fingertips would brush against the skin he had spent so long dreaming about. When he looked up at his mate, it was to see him already staring, his eyes gazing at him with unabashed wonder. His lips were parted as if to speak, and yet there were no words.
Louis smiled, feeling like an electric current was bursting forth from his fingertips. His arms swung at his sides, and he reached out by a millimetre to find the boy already reaching for him. Their fingers entwined, he felt the breath leave his lungs. He had felt this touch in every rain drop that had ever hit his face, in the warm breeze of summers, in the cold winter winds of birthdays past. And now, he didn’t need to dream anymore.
“I’m Harry,” the boy said shyly.
“Louis,” he replied, his voice shaking. “I was going to yell at you.”
Harry squacked, his brows raising towards his hairline in surprise. “You were? Why would you do that?”
Louis narrowed his eyes as he brushed his thumb against Harry’s wrist. “Because you stole my spot! On Christmas Eve! On my birthday!”
“I thought you were going to take the spot a few cars down! You didn’t even have your indicator on!” Harry sputtered defensively.
Louis’ jaw dropped indignantly. “I most definitely had my indicator on! You came flying in like a bat out of hell, and-”
“I drive very well, I’ll have you know!”
“Babe, you need to have a second opinion, because you do not drive well.”
Harry smiled. “Are we having our first fight?”
Louis pursed his lips into a smile and shrugged. “We’re not fighting, it’s just… banter,” he replied.
“We could keep bantering… or we would check our soul marks,” Harry suggested.
Louis let go of Harry’s hand and began to peel off his scarf, Harry doing the same next to him.
“On three?” Harry asked, his fingers at the neck of his jumper.
“One…. two…. three,” Louis counted. They both pulled their shirts down low enough to reveal their soul marks. Across the skin below his collarbones were two birds, drawn as if they were flying towards each other. Louis had just watched a nature documentary the last time he was at his nan’s, and the birds resembled the swallows he had learned about.
“Birds,” Louis murmured. “Swallows, specifically.”
“Nice! I just watched a documentary about them. Did you know that they-”
“Mate for life,” Louis finished his sentence. His voice catching in his throat, he locked eyes with his soulmate. “They mate for life.”
Harry nodded, holding onto Louis’ hands again as a smile unfurled across his face. His smile faded slightly as he looked at Louis’ soul mark.
“Yours says, ‘It is what it is,’” he said.
Louis’ brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t really know what that means,” he mumbled. “I mean, I guess it’s true though. Some things we can’t change.”
“Some things are just fate. Meant to be,” Harry added, more hopefully. Louis felt a sense of calm fill his heart again and he stepped closer to his mate.
“I missed you,” Louis said quietly, taking in all the colors in Harry’s eyes, the dip of his cupid’s bow, the way the sun shone through his hair. “I missed you before I even knew you.”
“I missed you too,” Harry said breathlessly. “I feel like we’ve been reunited, somehow.”
Louis was distantly aware that they were in the car park of Asda, and that his mother was at home waiting for him to return with the heavy cream and brandy, but at that moment, all he would sense was Harry.
He was the beating in his heart, the electricity in his veins.
“Meant to be,” Louis marveled. “We’re meant to be.”
Harry stepped even closer and mumbled the words against the skin of Louis’ cheekbone, their noses brushing together. Louis tilted his face up and brought his face closer. Feeling Harry just a breath away, he let his eyes close.
And as they kissed, the electricity thrumming through him finally found its way out. “This is what love is,” his mind raced as he felt Harry’s lips move against his. He felt the pull in his gut slow down as he finally, finally, was where he was meant to be.